---
title: flay — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «flay» in the school dictionary: To flay an animal is to strip the skin off it. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# flay

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**Who acts:** you · **What happens:** flay, be, strip off, let, burnt, smell · **To what, where:** animal, person, skin, him, slow fire, calf

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«flay» in the school dictionary: its 2 meanings for a pupil and its 2 examples, every sentence parsed by Mova itself — its syntax tree, a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies, and its pragmatics clause by clause. The word in the dictionary, with its sense in the lessons: [flay in the school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/flay.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To flay an animal is to strip the skin off it.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:flay:m1:1
# text = To flay an animal is to strip the skin off it.
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	flay	flay	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	advcl	_	_
3	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	animal	animal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	strip	strip	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	skin	skin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
10	off	off	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **flay** | to-infinitive |  | a animal |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | off skin; strip *property* | tree rules |

<!-- .note -->
One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

## Meaning 2 {#m2}

<!-- .note -->
Usage: old use, cruel — kept apart, not parsed.

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To flay a person is to punish them by stripping off their skin.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:flay:m2:1
# text = To flay a person is to punish them by stripping off their skin.
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	flay	flay	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	advcl	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	punish	punish	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obj	_	_
9	by	by	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
10	stripping	strip	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	7	advcl	_	_
11	off	off	ADP	RP	_	10	compound:prt	_	_
12	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	13	nmod:poss	_	_
13	skin	skin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **flay** | to-infinitive |  | a person |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | punish *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **strip off** | gerund |  | their skin |  |  |  |  | vn dress-41.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent skin=Patient |

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Let him be flayed alive, or burnt at a slow fire.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:flay:x1:1
# text = Let him be flayed alive, or burnt at a slow fire.
1	Let	let	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	compound	_	_
2	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	1	obj	_	_
3	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	flayed	flay	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	alive	alive	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
7	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	burnt	burnt	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	conj	_	_
9	at	at	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	slow	slow	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	fire	fire	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **let** | infinitive |  | him *= he* |  |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme |
| 2 | **flay** | infinitive · passive |  |  |  |  |  | alive *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **burnt** | participle |  |  |  | a slow fire |  |  | tree rules |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What you smell so must be the calf which I have just now killed and flayed.

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:flay:x2:1
# text = What you smell so must be the calf which I have just now killed and flayed.
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	obj	_	_
2	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	smell	smell	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	so	so	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
5	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
6	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	cop	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	calf	calf	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	parataxis	_	_
9	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	14	nsubj	_	_
10	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj:pass	_	_
11	have	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	aux	_	_
12	just	just	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
13	now	now	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	14	advmod	_	_
14	killed	kill	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	acl:relcl	_	_
15	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
16	flayed	flay	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	14	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **smell** | present | you |  |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer what=Stimulus |
| 2 | **is a** | must |  | the calf |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **kill** | present · perfect · passive |  | the calf |  |  | now |  | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 4 | **flay** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

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**Text:** the school dictionary of Mova's schools (`world/data/dictionary-schools/`), written for Mova. **Trees:** Mova's own parse — the `en` model on the CPU, when the site is built — not checked by a teacher; they may be wrong. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), each meaning and example read on its own. Elamur Cosmic License.

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